The present invention relates to electronic postage meters and more particularly to electronic postage meters of the stand-alone type such as disclosed in the aforementioned copending application Ser. No. 447,815, filed Dec. 8, 1982 herewith in the names of Danilo Buan and Alton B. Eckert and entitled, STAND-ALONE ELECTRONIC MAILING MACHINE.
Known electronic postage meters have generally comprised two separate units like their earlier mechanical forerunners i.e., a postage meter and base or mailing machine to enable the postage meter to be physically taken to the post office periodically to charge the meter. Such a meter is disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 4,301,507 issued on Nov. 17, 1981 and assigned to Pitney-Bowes, Inc. of Stamford, Conn. With the advent of remote meter resetting systems, it is no longer necessary that the postage meter be separated into two distinct units since the necessity to take the meter to the post office for recharging has been eliminated. Further, it is desirable to have a self-contained electronic postage meter that includes the metering function as well as all drive mechanisms to reduce the size and weight of the meter as well as making it more economical to produce. The mechanical construction of such a meter is disclosed in the aforementioned patent application. U.S. Pat. No. 4,251,874, issued on Feb. 17, 1979 in the name of Frank T. Check, Jr., entitled, ELECTRONIC POSTAGE METER SYSTEM, and assigned to Pitney Bowes, Inc., of Stamford, Conn., discloses a system for keeping track of the number of errors present during meter operation.
In programmable electronic postage meters, it is important during initial power up, after power failure, or after unforeseen binding of the meter components to relocate the print wheels to a known position for the subsequent setting of postage.